A Staged Reading
Released: Jan. 29, 2010.
(Stereo)
On today’s podcast, we present the first act of “Big Slide,” an original three-act play by James Howard Kunstler. Set in the autumn of an unspecified near-future year, at an Adirondack “great camp,” this is the story of three generations of the Freeman family who have taken refuge from New York and Boston during a severe national political maelstrom. Though we are never fully apprised of the exact nature of this event, it appears that a coup d’etat has occurred in the White House and local militias have risen up all over the nation in response. The estate at Big Slide is isolated from these events, but the electricity has stopped working and, apparently, the law enforcement has, too.
Direct Download: KunstlerCast_97.mp3 (60 MB | 1 hr 5 mins) * Please note this is a stereo podcast. |
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Staged reading of “Big Slide” at the MUCCC, Rochester NY. Photos by Carl Pultz.
About the Staged Reading:
“Big Slide” was first performed as a staged reading on January 9, 2010 in Rochester, NY, as part of the Multi-use Community Cultural Center’s American Playwright series. The event was introduced by James Howard Kunstler and recorded by KunstlerCast host/producer Duncan Crary.
Produced by: John Borek
Directed and Narrated by: Michael Arve
Promotional Artwork by: Louis Podlaski
Purchase Big Slide e-Book
“Big Slide” is now selling as a 116 page e-book (.PDF), and is also available for your Kindle device or iPhone. For more information and a description of “Big Slide,” visit: http://www.kunstler.com/BigSlide.
BUY NOW: The KunstlerCast Book

Book Cover: The KunstlerCast, by Duncan Crary (New Society Publishers, 2011) Paperback – 320 pages 6 Inches × 6 Inches (w × h) Weight: 261 Grams ISBN: 9780865716933
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If books were made out of Cheez Doodles this is what they would look like: bright orange, bite size, leaves a tasty residue on those who touch it.
REVIEWS
“This book is indeed great fun. … However, Crary’s superior volume has the guts to truly grapple with the harsh realities shaping our times—realities that few dare discuss out in the open.”
“KunstlerCast is an easy read that you can dip into and out of at will”
— Peter Bane, Permaculture Activist Magazine (.pdf), February 2012
“For those of you wanting a good overview of Kunstler’s thinking and for those of you that want to share JHK with others but may fear being embarrassed by the sometimes ‘salty’ language he can use, this book is a great tool. The format is, by design, conversational. You can digest it in small bites or in large pieces. And the Kunstler world through Duncan’s eyes is not necessarily sanitized, but it is communicated in a way that I think will reach a broader audience.”
“The 320-page New Society Publishers offering was just released in paperback and is based on four years of weekly Kunstler riffs recorded by podcasting journalist Duncan Crary. In his introduction to the book, Crary professes to be merely a host, and sometimes a Kunstler foil, but the two upstate New Yorkers really are kindred intellects.”
—Ready to despair? ‘Doomer’ exhorts us to ‘grow up’, Jon Rutter Lancaster Sunday News, Nov. 12, 2011